www.syriamc.com Syria celebrated the 55th anniversary of Tree Day by planting thousands of plants and trees in different Syrian cities.
The Syrian Minister of Agriculture, Adel Safar, speaking at a celebration in the Damascus countryside, said that the Syrian government was making great efforts to protect natural forests in the country and was carrying out a programme to double the number of trees.
"Syria has doubled the annual forestry plan from 12,000 hectares producing 15 million forestry plants in 1985 to 24,000 hectares with 30 million plants in the year 2000," the Minister added.
He said his ministry had adopted a new strategy in forestry that concentrated on planting areas according to available capabilities with local plants that adapt with environmental circumstances.
"The Agriculture Ministry appreciates the importance of protecting natural forests and has therefore established a number of specialised centres to protect forests around the country," Mr. Safar said. He added that the government had built a number of forestry police stations, established a team of firefighters and had founded 22 nature reserves with a total area 180 thousand hectares |